Intensely chocolatey, extra fluffy and ultra moist! This (90 second!) paleo and keto mug cake is bound to become your favorite lazy low carb treat!
(90 Second!) Chocolate Mug Cake
Ultra Speedy, Easy (‘N Chocolatey!)
This keto chocolate mug cake is dedicated to the lazy baker in all of us! But keep in mind that lazy in no way means ‘less discerning’, as this little guy right here might even rival our famous chocolate cake.
That’s right! It seems that microwaving keto batters makes them extra (extra!) fluffy. So your mug cake should nearly double in size (albeit collapse a tad… you know, per keto standards).
Still, it’s nothing less than a beautifully moist chocolate cake through and through. Add in some chocolate chunks, serve up with vanilla ice cream (or whipped cream!), or how about a salted caramel drizzle?(!!). Or, simply delicious as is!
The Method
Mix, microwave… that’s it! Just be sure to leave ample space for rising (3-4 fingers).
The Sweetener
You’ve got plenty of options for this keto mug cake. Think xylitol and allulose (no aftertaste), Lakanto (barely any aftertaste… if at all?), and Swerve (some slight cooling sensation).
Fun fact: it might also be my taste buds here, but I’ve noticed that stevia-based sweeteners (such as Pyure) don’t work so great when chocolate is involved as the aftertaste is accentuated. So I cannot recommend enough that you don’t use stevia-based sweeteners with chocolate!
Oh, and if just paleo or gluten free (or not restricted by sugars), simply sub 1-to-1 with coconut or regular sugar.
The Flours
You’ll need some super fine almond flour, golden flaxseed meal (or psyllium husk powder), coconut flour and a touch of xanthan gum.
Just keep in mind that for best texture and rise, you’ll always want to regrind your flaxseed meal in a dry blender or bullet.
The Chocolate
You’ll want to use a Dutch-processed alkaline cocoa here. As there’s baking powder involved, using cacao won’t give the same results (at all!).
In terms of brands, my favorite will forever be Valrhona, known to be one of (if not the) best cocoas in the world. But as long as it reads ‘cocoa’ you’ll be fine!
(90 Second!) Chocolate Keto Mug Cake
Ingredients
For the keto mug cake
- 2 tablespoons unsalted grass-fed butter coconut oil or ghee
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2-3 tablespoons xylitol erythritol or allulose (I use 2 TBSP)*
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1 tablespoon golden flaxseed meal or psyllium husk, finely ground
- 2 teaspoons coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch kosher salt
Serving suggestions
Instructions
- Melt butter in a medium (microwave safe!) bowl. Whisk in cocoa and sweetener to taste, and mix until well combined. If using erythritol, your batter will likely be very thick.
- Whisk in the egg and mix until smooth (if using xylitol and allulose) or until thoroughly combined (with granular erythritol, which doesn't dissolve as readily). Mix in the rest of the ingredients and spoon the (very thick!) batter into a mug.
- Place a paper towel into the microwave and set the mug on top (to catch any overflowing batter). Cook on high for 70-90 seconds (time can vary a lot in microwaves, but to give you an idea I do 80 on 1000 watts!). Allow to cool for a couple minutes and enjoy!
Wow! This was dessert tonight and really good!
I didn’t have any flaxseed or psyllium so just used all almond flour. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Hi, Paola! Thank you for this recipe! I made these last night, and the flavor was great, and the crumb was beautiful – but, they were dry. I read back through the recipe, and noticed that in the post, you mentioned a touch of xanthan gum – but, it’s not in the actual recipe. I can’t help wondering if the missing ingredient is why it was a bit dry? The cakes were really good, and I topped them with keto cream cheese frosting, and had a big glass of almond milk, with mine (hubs isn’t an almond milk fan, lol)
Thanks again for such a gnommy recipe!
FANTASTIC! Quick, easy, and delicious!
It was seriously yummy, couldn’t even tell it’s Keto 🙂 I added couple of choco chips n a bit of cream on top and it was gone in several bites XD
Thanks for the recipe <3
Can I use this recipe for waffles?
Paola, I used your recipe and made waffles. What a great treat! I did add about 1 tsp of heavy cream (don’t know if I needed it). Thanks for all the work you do to make great recipes for us!!
Great treat, the portion was large enough that I got to have it the next day too! Taste and texture are nice and “cake” like( really good mouth feel). Easily adjust sweetness to taste. Great the second day too, just covered with plastic wrap right on top of the mug. I did a chocolate cream cheese swirl icing. Yummm! Thanks for the great recipes!
Wow! I don’t know why it took me so long to try this recipe but man was it good!
I loved the texture and the I actually loved the flax in this and I normally don’t enjoy it. No slimy or odd texture.
Also, I found allulose today in my local supermarket and I saw that can be used in this recipe. I also used 2 TBL and thought it was perfect sweetness.
No after taste no cooling just yummy!!
By far my new favorite and will be making this for EVERY chocolate craving this girl gets!! I added a small square of dark chocolate in the middle. 😋😋
The only bad thing was I ate the whole cake before I realized the nutrition was for half!!
I think I’ll just have to make 2 next time because I can’t stop eating it once I start!
Thanks for the yummies!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰
Oh my, this was good, this recipe is definitely a keeper. I sprinkled a few Lily’s chocolate chips on top while it was cooling for a couple of minutes and ate it with keto ice cream. Great for a quick fix!!
Thank you so much!!
I have been doing paleo since 2015 and I’ve tried just about every configuration of mud cake, so I was skeptical that your recipe would be any different. But I was so wrong. This is by far the best mug cake recipe I’ve ever tried. My oother mug cakes have always been somewhat disappointing and had some funny aftertaste, taste weather from the stevia or from the baking soda I don’t know. I took your advice I did not use Stevia but instead of combination of coconut sugar and Swerve. I also left out the flaxseed meal because I just really don’t like it in any recipe, and upped the almond flour to 2 and 1/2 tablespoons to make up for the difference. It came out nice and fluffy, moist, and delicious!
Normally I loathe all chocolate cakes (weird, I know) but I made this for my daughter and I to share as she loves chocolate cake, and THIS IS THE MOST PHENOMENAL CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER!!! It’s lusciously dark, not too rich, semi-sweet with a good crumb. It’s really phenomenal! Thank you, Paola!
Yummy! I did add like 2 tbsp sugar free chocolate pudding to make it more moist. Can’t even tell it’s a keto dessert!
I’ve tried multiple mug cake recipes since I started eating keto , and this one is the best. Super easy , quick and great macros as well. Best texture and taste as well. Can’t wait to try all your other receipies as well. Thanks a lot for this one 😊
My husband and kids favorite mug cake! We mix in peanut butter or Lily’s milk chocolate chips and top with heave cream. They devour it in minutes!
Paula, this is delish!!! I added a small scoop of vanilla cupcake flavored protein powder, half of a Tbsp of heavy cream, and some Lily’s chocolate chips!! It is super yummy ❣ I live by ALL of your recipes 🥰
Ugh…auto correct changed the spelling of your name. Sorry!
These dessert is one of the best discoveries of my year!!!! How long would be in the oven?
Just made this for breakfast. It rose to the top of the mug! Very light and fluffy and definitely satisfies a cake craving. Thanks for the recipe.
In the details you speak of using xanthum gum but it’s not in the recipe?
AWESOMESAUCE!! Or perhaps it would be awesomecake?! I made the chocolate version just like the recipe last night and it was fabulous. Since I’m not a big fan of chocolate, tonight I subbed vanilla whey protein powder for the cocoa and added 1/2 tsp lemon extract. I topped it with whipped cream, and it was yummo! I don’t know where you get your ideas, but I sure am glad that I came cross your blog. Keep up the great work!
Paola,
This is really quite delicious!! I just had chocolate cake for dinner and my goodness, I’m full…stuffed actually! I mean, I ate the entire cake (both servings). 😀
Renee loooooooool!!! Told ya it was super filling ;)! Awesome to hear you loved!
I LOVE THIS!!! Toke more than 3 minutes but maybe once I make it more often I’ll whip it up quicker. Cooked it in the microwave for 75 seconds turned out perfect. My husband said it taste like a brownie that’s how good it is. He prefers brownies over cake. I really love this website for any type of bread, fudge brownies and now cake. I can’t wait to try others. I’m glad I can still get my chocolate while doing Keto. Dont know what I’d do without it.
I made this for the first time this evening. It was not only delish but it was filling. Thank you for the recipe. Do you think if I left out the chocolate and added vanilla extract I would have a vanilla version of this with the same consistency?
Sounds so good but I don’t own a microwave, would you suggest an approximate oven temperature and baking time instead? Thank you so much, Audrey
That was a surprisingly easy and excellent recipe. I made a regular cake for my daughters birthday and made this for myself. I whipped up some whip cream really fast and didn’t miss a thing. These kinds of recipes really makes keto so much easier.
I really appreciate the recipes you have created. Can I substitute a chia egg for the regular egg here?
Gnom-gnom wins again! Hubby and I taste tested 4 different chocolate mug cake recipes tonight. This recipe won by a lot! By far the best!!!
Can i make it without coconut flour? Thanks
Holy cow! please, everyone, you must try this recipe. My hubby and I have been craving something chocolaty and sweet but I never get to have enough time to bake something. Today, I printed a whole bunch of Paola’s recipes and although I picked a cake recipe, I still made this one since it only took 3 MINUTES!!!.
Of course the mug is already empty, my hubby, our four year old daughter, and I, devoured the mug cake!!! It was absolutely delicious and best of all in just 3 minutes!! Did I mentioned that before? :-p
I used the exact ingredients but used erythritol in powdered form (confectioners). I was pleasantly surprised to not have felt that cooling sensation that, erythritol, usually leaves in my tongue.
Thank you Paola!! This Is, from now on, my to go recipe for sweet cravings on a constricted time frame… You are the best!!
Thank you Paola it was delicious! 👍🏼
My pleasure Alfonso!
I had already posted about how good these are, but had asked about adding sour cream to moisten them a bit more. Since then I’ve experimented a few times. Note that in each of these experiments I used the 80 second/1 min, 20 second time in what I call the nukemobile.
A. I added a tablespoon of sour cream alternately with the dry ingredients, which I had whisked together separately. Then divided the batter into two 6-oz (175 ml) pyrex custard bowls to help control portions. They came out beautifully, aligned perfectly to the top of the bowl after cooling. But the sour cream gave them an odd flavor and not really moister, even with Lily’s chocolate chips incorporated.
B. Next I made them as above in the 2 custard bowls but used a tablespoon of heavy cream. This helped to thin the batter and made it easier to put in the bowls. They came out wonderfully.
C. Next I wanted to try to make smaller portions, so I decided cupcakes – using silicone cupcake liners. Same recipe as above and used 6 of the liners. Halfway through microwaving I realized I’d forgotten Lily’s chips. Oh well, probably will be a little less moist. Took them out, as they began to cool they weren’t quite to the top of the cupcake liner. They felt a little ‘underdone’ (soft) and looked a little wet around the edge. Once they were cooled down enough to eat, I had to taste test (of course!!) – OMG!! it was absolutely dreamy – tender, fluffy, moist, looked, felt, and tasted just like a bakery cupcake.
I know what I’m taking to the next pot luck!! Think I’ll add some of your cream cheese buttercream frosting to the top of them for extra fun.
Just made two of these for my boyfriend and I. We omitted the sweetener and just shoved a square of 85% dark chocolate into the middle for sweetness. It’s delicious! It has a nice buttery flavor and moist, bready texture (chose the psyllium husk because I like the taste 🙂 Thanks for sharing! Your recipes are great!
Ooooh sounds like you guys love your dark chocolate!! Awesome to hear and thanks for sharing! Xo!